PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "He also announced his intention of suing the city for $25 million, claiming cops coerced a false confession from him when he was a teenager, The New York Post reported. He filed a Notice of Claim with the city Comptroller’s Office “for false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, denial of a fair trial and other related claims,” the Post said. The lawsuit also alleges that during his years behind bars, Churaman was “forced to endure inhumane and horrific conditions as a child among men. As a result of all the torture, he tried to kill himself twice while locked up, the papers say, according to the Post."
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STORY: "Guyanese Indian American Prakash Churaman Exonerated Nearly 8 Years After Being Wrongly Accused of Murder," published by 'American Kahani' on June 10, 2022.
SUB-HEADING: "The young man was 15 in 2014 when he was arrested and charged for killing 21-year-old Taquane Clark during a botched home invasion in South Jamaica."
The young man’s ordeal began in 2014 when he was arrested and charged with the murder of his friend, 21-year-old Taquane Clark during a botched home invasion in South Jamaica. He was 15 at the time.
While the suspects wore masks during the crime, a 74-year-old woman present at the time said she recognized Churaman’s voice.
Churaman later told PIX11 News that he was a confused teen when he was brought into the precinct and questioned by detectives without his lawyer.
He confessed to playing a role in the crime but later recanted. He told PIX11 News that he was pressured. “These detectives interrogated me for hours.”
He was incarcerated for six years, spending four of those in pre-trial detention on Rikers Island. He was convicted at the trial in 2018 based on testimony from the “earwitness,” and he was sentenced to nine years to life in prison.
The Appellate Division overturned that decision in June 2020 and he was just weeks away from his retrial when the charges were dismissed altogether.
“The truth will always prevail no matter what adversity life brings,” Churaman told the media after his release. But there is still a lot of justice that he’s seeking, he added.
He also unannounced his intention of suing the city for $25 million, claiming cops coerced a false confession from him when he was a teenager, The New York Post reported.
He filed a Notice of Claim with the city Comptroller’s Office “for false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, denial of a fair trial and other related claims,” the Post said.
The lawsuit also alleges that during his years behind bars, Churaman was “forced to endure inhumane and horrific conditions as a child among men. As a result of all the torture, he tried to kill himself twice while locked up, the papers say, according to the Post.
Churaman told the Post that although the “amount of money that the government compensates me with will ever bring back the time that they stole from me,” it cannot take away “the horrifying traumatizing experiences that I was forced to endure…There is no price tag for my life, for my freedom, for my childhood.”
Churaman’s release is an effort of years of rallies, advocacy, and fighting an unjust criminal justice system by lawmakers and groups like DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving).
The Queens-based organization aims to build the power of South Asian and Indo-Caribbean low-wage immigrant workers, youth, and families in New York City.
Executive Director Fahd Ahmed told the New York Post that Churaman’s case is just one instance of systemic and pervasive issues with the NYPD and the DA offices across the city.
South Asian members of the New York City Council — Shahana Hanif, who represents the 39th Council District and Shekar Krishnan of the 25th district; along with New York State Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani — also extended their support to Churaman. Along with 40 city, state, and federal elected officials, they sent a letter to the Queens DA which was drafted after conversations with Churaman.
Meanwhile, the Free Prakash Alliance has created a fundraiser to support Curaman and his family to pay for basic needs like rent, baby supplies, and other bills as they get back on their feet. “Now, Prakash and his family can finally focus on healing and putting this traumatic experience behind them,” the GoFundMe page says.
Post his release, they released another letter noting that the Queens DA’s decision to free Chuaran “speaks to the power of his community and the movement he built.”
New York State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar also released a statement after Churaman’s release. She promised to conduct an inquiry into what led to this injustice so it can be stopped from happening again.
However, DRUM claims that Rajkumar never did anything to support the movement to free Churaman. She was invited to sign onto a letter “with other electeds and activists months ago,” but she never responded. “We have no faith in any investigation by you yielding anything of substance.”
The entire story can be read at:
https://americankahani.com/community/prakash-churaman/
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: ( From Ryan Budhu op-ed - a really great op-ed. Oh to write like that! HL)..."Considering his age, learning disability and medicated status, it is reasonable enough to believe that Churaman simply said whatever he thought Gallagher and Brown wanted to hear Along with his recanted confession, the case also hinged on earwitness testimony of then-74-year-old Olive Legister. No, that’s not a typo: Legister isn’t an eyewitness, she’s an earwitness. She says she heard Prakash’s voice during the crime. Outside of Churaman’s recanted juvenile confession, Legister’s voice identification is the key piece of evidence linking him to the crime. There is no forensic evidence — fingerprints, DNA, video or murder weapon — that place Churaman at the crime scene."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Faced with a retrial, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz offered Churaman a deal: plead guilty to assault and, with time served, be set free in weeks. Churaman, who maintains his innocence, rejected the offer, saying he refuses to admit to a crime he did not commit....
Read New York Daily News op-ed by Ryan D, Budhu - headed 'The Persecution of Prakash Churaman - at the link below: (Ryan Budhu is a senior associate at Arnold & Porter. He does not represent Churaman.)
Guyanese immigrant Prakash Churaman was 15 years old when police officers snatched him from his mother’s basement apartment and took him to the 113th Precinct in Jamaica, Queens.
Without a lawyer present, Detectives Daniel Gallagher and Barry Brown alternately berated and cajoled Churaman for almost three hours.
At the time, Churaman was taking anti-depression and anxiety medication and has since been diagnosed with a learning disability.
Although his mother was present, she didn’t understand the consequences of a confession and begged Churaman to cooperate with the police so that she wouldn’t be late for her job.
Churaman finally confessed to being present at the scene of a botched robbery. Unknown to Churaman, Taquane Clark had been killed during that robbery.
He recanted afterward, but it was too late.
Churaman was charged with murder — felony murder for participating in a felony, attempted robbery in Churaman’s case, where someone was killed — and didn’t come home for six years.
He is still fighting the case to this day.
That Churaman would at first confess to a crime he now claims he didn’t commit isn’t shocking.
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 22% of people accused of homicide gave false confessions.
That figure skyrockets when the accused is a juvenile. Indeed, children are almost four times as likely as adults to confess to crimes they didn’t commit.
Even more overwhelming is that 70% of exonerees with a mental illness or intellectual disability have falsely confessed.
Considering his age, learning disability and medicated status, it is reasonable enough to believe that Churaman simply said whatever he thought Gallagher and Brown wanted to hear.
Along with his recanted confession, the case also hinged on earwitness testimony of then-74-year-old Olive Legister.
No, that’s not a typo: Legister isn’t an eyewitness, she’s an earwitness.
She says she heard Prakash’s voice during the crime. Outside of Churaman’s recanted juvenile confession, Legister’s voice identification is the key piece of evidence linking him to the crime.
There is no forensic evidence — fingerprints, DNA, video or murder weapon — that place Churaman at the crime scene.
For years, Churaman languished behind bars as he waited for a trial. A child living among men, Churaman suffered through anxiety and depression while navigating Rikers Island’s infamously violent and unsanitary conditions.
During that time, he attempted suicide twice.
On Dec. 13, 2018, four years after he was taken from that basement apartment, Churaman, now an adult in the eyes of the law, was convicted of murder in the second degree.
Almost two years later, an appellate court overturned the verdict because Churaman had been precluded from presenting evidence about false confessions.
Faced with a retrial, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz offered Churaman a deal: plead guilty to assault and, with time served, be set free in weeks. Churaman, who maintains his innocence, rejected the offer, saying he refuses to admit to a crime he did not commit.
A child growing up at Rikers Island isn’t unprecedented.
The name Kalief Browder reminds us of that.
Nor is it surprising that a Guyanese immigrant like Churaman has struggled to navigate our criminal justice system.
Guyanese in New York are both underserved and overpoliced.
And it is hardly startling that elected officials have mostly failed to address Churaman’s inequitable prosecution.
Despite Guyanese people accounting for the second-largest foreign-born group in Queens, the community has little political power.
Assembly districts practically gerrymander the community’s presence out of existence.
Instead, what is remarkable is that Churaman is risking decades behind bars to clear his name. For years, he has battled a system in the shadows.
But sunlight is the best disinfectant, and now he is gambling that injustice will not survive public scrutiny.
So, with limited resources, he has mobilized a coalition to his aid. Starting with phone calls from Rikers, Churaman solicited funds for his legal defense, which paid off when an appellate court granted him bail in January 2021.
Now under house arrest, he is continuing to lead his alliance in demanding that Katz drop the charges.
Katz isn’t wavering, and Churaman’s second trial is scheduled for Feb. 10, 2022.
The details of this man’s prosecution should disturb us all.
He has spent years behind bars, but scant evidence links him to the crime and reasonable doubt abounds. Katz signaled as much in her plea offer — yet at the very same time, she insists on putting him on trial again.
Churaman will never get back his teenage years. Nor will any favorable verdict erase the trauma no doubt imprinted on him during his incarceration at Rikers.
But perhaps he might be able to walk out of this nightmare vindicated and free.
Unless a judge takes an extraordinary step, Katz is the only person that can make this happen.
She should drop the charges against Prakash Churaman.
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
